## Facts

- A scholar published a revised and expanded draft international criminal code and a draft statute for an international criminal tribunal.
- The work is presented in legislative-style provisions (code articles and a tribunal statute) accompanied by explanatory commentary and rationale.
- The project assumes two alternative enforcement approaches for international criminal law:
  - a direct enforcement model using an international criminal court to adjudicate violations of the code; and
  - an indirect enforcement model relying on states to implement and enforce the code through domestic criminal justice systems.
- The draft code is described as using a unitary-integrated structure combining common-law and civil-law concepts while accounting for distinctive features of international criminal law.
- The referenced pages fall within the portion of the draft code addressing specific international crimes, but no adjudicated dispute, litigating parties, or procedural history is involved.

## Issues

1. Whether international criminal law can be synthesized into a comprehensive, codified set of offenses with defined elements suitable for consistent application.
2. Whether enforcement of codified international crimes should primarily proceed through a permanent international criminal tribunal, domestic courts applying a common code, or either approach.
3. What institutional and procedural design features are necessary for an international criminal tribunal to exercise jurisdiction over codified international crimes in a manner workable for states.

## Decision

- The author proposes a complete draft code defining international crimes and a separate draft statute establishing an international criminal tribunal.
- The proposal endorses two viable enforcement pathways: direct international adjudication and indirect domestic enforcement through national implementation.
- The tribunal statute is presented as an implementing mechanism specifying jurisdictional, structural, and procedural features needed for adjudication of code violations.

## Legal Principles

- International criminal prohibitions drawn from treaties and customary norms can be organized into a coherent codified instrument to advance legality, clarity, and enforceability.
- Codification may be paired with either (a) a standing international tribunal empowered to adjudicate code violations or (b) domestic prosecution frameworks implementing the same substantive norms.
- A functional tribunal design requires articulated procedures, institutional organs, and mechanisms defining how the court operates and how it interacts with states.
- Cross-system usability is advanced by drafting substantive and procedural concepts in a manner compatible with both common-law and civil-law traditions.

## Conclusion

The work is a legislative-style reform proposal rather than a judicial decision: it advances codified definitions of international crimes and supplies an accompanying tribunal statute, asserting that enforcement can be achieved through either an international court model or state-based domestic implementation.


Bassiouni, A Draft International Criminal Code and Draft Statute for an International Criminal Tribunal (1987)